Enabling NVidia TwinView
From Shrubbery
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[edit] Installing the nVidia kernel module (kmod-nvidia)
For Fedora Core 6, the nVidia drivers are available using the Livna repository. Updating yum's list of repositories with Livna is a matter of installing an RPM from the Livna web site:
# rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-6.rpm # yum -y install kmod-nvidia
- NOTE: In some kernels, the version of kmod-nvidia from Livna is not stable. If you experience instability with this it is probably a good idea to take a look at this guide to installing nVidia drivers or build and install kmod-nvidia from the NVidia web site.
Here is an example of installing the NVidia driver from the download on the NVidia website:
# telinit 3 # yum remove -y kmod-nvidia # ./NVIDIA-Linux-x86-1.0-9755-pkg1.run # shutdown -r now
[edit] TwinView vs dual-head
Important - Twin view is not the same as 'dual-head'! Twin view is a single 'head' serving multiple monitors.
- Use TwinView if you have an nVidia card with two outputs (usually DVI and VGA). There are no settings in the GUI display configuration tool in GNome (in Gnome: System->Administration->Display).
- Use 'dual-head' options in the GNome Display configuration tool (System->Administration->Display) if you actually have two video adapters.
[edit] X Config TwinView Options
You will need to edit the X configuration file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Make a backup of it first.
# cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.orig
Here is the manual for the TwinView options: http://download.nvidia.com/XFree86/Linux-x86/1.0-8174/README/32bit_html/appendix-g.html
To enable TwinView, you must specify the following options in the Device section of your X Config file:
Option "TwinView" Option "MetaModes" "<meta modes>"
Option "HorizSync" "<hsync range(s)>" Option "VertRefresh" "<vrefresh range(s)>"
For example:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "Videocard vendor"
BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500"
Option "TwinView"
Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1280x1024"
Option "HorizSync" "LCD-0: 31-67; LCD-1: 31-67"
Option "VertRefresh" "LCD-0: 50-75; LCD-1: 50-75"
EndSection
After editing xorg.config, you must restart X. For example:
<ctrl-alt-F1> ... log in as root ... # telinit 3 ... hit return to see the prompt again ... # telinit 5
